Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, has been wiggling between the demands by the protesters to discountenance the creation of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and the necessity for the immediate establishment of the new team to fill voids created by the dissolution of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), particularly during the Ember months traditionally characterised with upsurge in armed robbery and other violent crimes in the country.
But, protesters are not ready to back down as more cities and towns have been joining the #EndSARS movement.
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Adamu has been seeking the cooperation of the citizens in the ongoing development drive for a new and reformed Nigeria Police Force.
He has constantly been appealing to them to be patient and to believe in the reform processes which are all directed at ensuring the security, safety and rights of all.
The police chief reaffirmed that the new Police Tactical Team would operate within very high professional and ethical standards, rule of law and dictates of best international policing practices.
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Adamu explained that Nigeria Police Force is partnering with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other Development Partners for the training of the Tactical Team which commences October 19 at Police Mobile Force (PMF) Training School in Ila Oragun, Osun State and PMF Training School, Ende Hills in Nasarawa State.
He reiterated that no personnel of the defunct SARS would be a member the new Tactical Team, noting that “the officers selected for the training are young, smart and energetic officers who have acquired not less than seven years working experience with clean service records – no pending disciplinary matters, no record of violation of rights of citizens or misuse of firearms – and are physically fit to withstand the rigour of SWAT Training and Operations.”
According to him, “The selected officers shall be subjected to physical fitness test, medical and toxicology screening etc and those found to be unsuitable shall be discharged.
“ICRC, an independent International human rights and humanitarian support organisation with over 71 years experience in humanitarian services and institutional support and development, will provide resource persons and materials to handle the human rights components of the training programme.
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“Specifically, they will handle topics touching on humanitarian laws, police conduct in conflict situation, human rights standard especially in the use of force and firearms, arrest and detention amongst others.
“Other areas of the training program will include modern-day police ethics and values, Intelligence-led policing, Operation planning/Tactical decision making processes, Hostage rescue tactics and operation, weapon handling, first aid/basic life saving skills, stress/fear management, police-citizens relations and emotional intelligence etc.
“The training modules will be handled by other carefully selected development partners, security experts as well as veterans from the civil society and human rights community.”
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Adamu, in a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, charged the training coordinators to ensure a diligent and timely delivery of the Tactical Team.
